WHO: Nearly 10,000 deaths worldwide from COVID in December

Nearly 10,000 people died of COVID-19 in December, a surge the World Health Organization ties to a new variant spreading worldwide and recent holiday gatherings.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the international health agency, said that hospitalizations also jumped 42% in close to 50 countries that share trend information, most of them in Europe and the Americas, according to The Associated Press.

“Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable,” he told reporters during a news conference Wednesday in Geneva.

He added that “although COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the virus is still circulating, changing and killing.”

The numbers are likely an undercount, Tedros said.

The WHO said in an email Thursday that Russia appears to be reporting the most cases to the health agency but stressed that “many countries have reduced or stopped reporting, which is part of the problem,” per The Washington Post.

Related

• Could mask mandates come back to protect against COVID?

The JN.1 omicron variant is circulating the most, but because it is an omicron variant and current vaccines target omicron, getting vaccinated should be somewhat protective. Even if people become infected, vaccination is expected to reduce the likelihood of severe illness or even death.

The COVID-19 surge also coincides with an increase in other respiratory diseases, including flu and pneumonia. Respiratory syncytial virus appears to have plateaued in the Northern Hemisphere, but Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead at WHO for COVID-19, said an increase in respiratory ills is expected to continue this winter. Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s summer, COVID-19 cases are also on the rise.